I've always had MT but when I bout my wife her new car the sales guy sold me on an 08 37s as a daily driver. After driving it for a couple weeks now I've noticed I had previously underestimated their potential. Is this car worth upgrading the engine even though it's an Auto?

 

In my opinion, MT > AT alllllll day looooong. That's coming from a 7AT G37S owner. Keep the 6MT, you'll regret getting rid of it if you do.

 

That's kind of a big question and the answer is largely dependent on a lot of things, namely, your definition of "worth it".

Assuming from your screen name that you are used to working on domestic NA v8+ powered cars, you should realize right now that bolt ons do not have nearly the same effect on this powerplant as they do on domestics. Cam changes are nearly nonexistent, so that really leaves you with bolt on breather mods. All the breather mods will net you a gain of <40hp, if that. It will also be expensive, even if you DIY the mods yourself. That leaves forced induction as your only real option to have significant horsepower increases. Obviously that gets expensive.

So from a bang for buck standpoint, vs larger displacement motors, no, it is not worth it.

However, if modding is its own pleasure, the way it is for many of us, then modding your car can increase its aesthetic appeal and make a good car better.

If you need more details into the particular nuts and bolts of modding, I've either done or researched most of the performance mods you can do to a 7at.

 

If I'm not mistaken, I think he means he's used to owning *other* manual cars, not a 6mt g37 vs an auto.

 

Not sure if I understand the question. Do you now own the 7AT but since you prefer a manual you want to know if it's even worth putting some mods into the AT model? If you're keeping the car and you drive it often enough then yes, there's mods you can do to make it even better such as sway bars, exhaust, coilovers, etc. Most of the mods are more cosmetic in nature since the VQ motor is pretty maxed from the factory, without serious mods like Turbo or Supercharger the Hp per dollar is quite low.
If it's your wife driving it all the time then might want to save your cash for your manual transmission beast, I'm guessing it'll have a Hemi

 

Whoops, my apologies. I interpreted the OP all wrong. Thanks man.

 

I tend to think if you enjoy driving a manual trans, then stick with the manual. If you require the convenience/broad acceptance of an auto (i.e. traffic, the wife may need to drive the car, broader appeal for resale, etc.), then stick with an auto. I definitely see that on the resale market, there are alot more very well maintained manual trannie cars, which I believe is linked to the fact that primarily enthusiasts select this option. It's definitely becoming more rare to find one offered, so if you enjoy it, take advantage while you can.

 

To verify, yes I am coming from a MT SRT8 and have almost always owned a MT. I had to trade my Challenger due to the fact that I needed a second car for my wife and only had the Dodge and a R6. I've never owned an AT "sports" car before and I guess my real question was, are the bolt on's out there worth the money on the AT? I'm already working on the cosmetic side and was just wondering about the performance side.

 

Depends on your expectations.

From what I've read on this forum, real additional performance is pretty hard to come by unless you go to forced induction of some sort.

Fancy intakes and exhausts don't seem to add much more than looks, regardless of the tranny type...

 

I actually just picked up a 2011 G37S 7AT and I love it. I had a 2008 G37s Manual. I'm in DC, so its kind of tuff sometimes when i'm in traffic. If I get the urge, I'll just use my paddle shifters for a little thrill. But, all in all, I love the automatic G37S.

 

I liked my 5at when it was stock, but now with breather mods and a tune... damn it's even more fun now! plus the exhaust note is hmmm sexyyy

 

Yea intake and exhaust with tune I think is all I'm going to do as well. I'm gonna just make it perty!

 

I think you'll enjoy the 7AT. I wouldn'y own a manual anything 4 wheeled where I live due to the horrible traffic. I've Almost finished up my performance mods for this car and I can honestly say that I am pleased.

 

I sold my G37 6MT for a BMW 550i a few months ago..I really miss driving stick Traffic was a pain but it was such a fun car to drive.

 

If you can say that with OC traffic you really are a stick fan!